


Precipice

by sweettears90



Category: Midnight Poppy Land (Webcomic)
Genre: F/M, the best revenge is living your best life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:54:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24982654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweettears90/pseuds/sweettears90
Summary: Julri comes looking for Poppy. He wasn't expecting Tora.
Relationships: Tora/Poppy Wilkes
Comments: 12
Kudos: 247





	Precipice

**Author's Note:**

> I understand completely what Poppy went through with Julri. I was fortunate enough to never walk in on them... and I never actually had any proof. But it's just one of those things, you know? (Don't worry about me; I'm over it. This happened in 2012!)  
> But thinking about MPL, and I was suddenly struck with a plot bunny! (Fortunately, I never had that douche come looking for me. Unfortunately, I never had somebody like Tora who would scare him away just by showing up...)

Poppy often felt like she was on the precipice of something recently. It could probably swing either way, and she herself swung between wanting either option to happen multiple times a week. 

  
Her relationship with Tora was not something that could be easily defined. She sometimes felt like they were a little bit more than friends. But other times, she wasn’t even sure that he even viewed her as a friend. 

  
She wanted more from him. Spending time with him often awoke strange feelings in her… Feelings that she’d never experienced in her life.

  
But sometimes, that feeling was nothing but a primal fear. She had never outright asked what he did for a living, and he’d never offered her anything concrete. She felt like it was probably best not to ask. 

  
However, their relationship remained unchanged for months. A precarious balance on a precipice. 

  
They tried to make time for the other, although Tora’s schedule was a lot more unpredictable than Poppy’s was. But they still tried to get together at least once a week when they could. They would alternate between Tora taking Poppy to some restaurant— sometimes one that they’d never been to before, but sometimes a familiar favorite— and Poppy cooking for him. 

  
When she found out that his cooking skills were almost non-existent, she began to slowly teach him. He was a patient learner, although she wasn’t quite sure what his motives were in learning. (She also had no idea how he managed to keep in such good shape if all he did was to eat out all the time. She thought about eating a muffin in the break room and seemed to gain ten pounds.) 

  
Tora had been quiet on the way to the store by Poppy’s apartment. She’d learned not to press too much… something about that weird fear that he sometimes instilled in her. If he wanted to talk, then she’d listen. And he knew that.   
But she offered him a small smile when they met up at the front of his car and walked into the store together. “What should we cook today?”

  
“I don’t know.” He shrugged slightly. “Maybe I’ll go take a look at what the meat department has on sale today.”

  
“Okay,” she said with a nod. As she grabbed a cart from the front of the store, he was already disappearing down an isle to get to the meat refrigerators towards the back. 

  
Poppy, meanwhile, made for the produce section to see what was on sale there. Of course, she wouldn’t make a decision of what to cook alongside tonight’s meal until Tora came back with something. But she could get a feel for the prices.   
And oranges were on sale; they would be a nice snack. She grabbed a bag and began to pick out a couple. 

  
She’d just put them into the cart when somebody called her name. She looked up, curious as to who could be at her neighborhood grocery store.

  
And instantly went into pure panic mode.

  
It was Julri, a few feet in front of her. 

  
“Poppy, I’ve been looking all over the city for you.” He took a few steps closer to her, but for every step closer he took, Poppy took one backwards. She was grateful that there was a cart between them, too. 

  
“I hated how things ended between us. I thought about coming to find you, but didn’t know where you lived, or even the location of your office. I finally decided to come down to the city and just start looking for you.” 

  
Poppy shook her head slightly, not even sure what to say in response to something like that. After the way things had ended between them? You mean with Poppy walking in on Julri… 

  
It burned to think about, even about a year after it had happened. She’d cried for a week solid.

  
Somebody reached around Poppy and tossed a packet of ground beef into the cart. Then, a comforting arm slid around her waist. Julri’s eyes took in the man standing at Poppy’s side, and it was clear that he was afraid of Tora. 

  
“Who the fuck is this?” Tora said. He spoke in the same way he had the time that he’d accidentally stepped in dog poop at the park. 

  
Feeling emboldened by Tora’s presence, Poppy said something that she would have never had the courage to otherwise: “I don’t know. I’ve never seen this man before in my life.” 

  
With one last disgusted look at Julri, Tora turned the cart around, and pulled Poppy with him in one, smooth movement. 

  
Once they were out of sight of Julri, behind the bread aisle, Poppy’s bravado quickly vanished. She started to shake, and felt like she was close to tears. 

  
“Hey, come on,” Tora whispered to her gently. He ran a soothing hand up and down her arm. “Who was that guy, really?” 

  
“My ex,” she whispered. 

  
“The one who cheated on you?” 

  
Poppy could only nod. Tora’s grip tightened on her elbow briefly, and Poppy was slightly worried that he was going to hurt Julri. But, one part reveled in the fact that… maybe he would. 

  
“What do you want me to do?” he finally said. 

  
Her eyes widened at the thought; he was asking permission. The idea of seeing Julri punished for cheating on her… for every awful thing that he’d done to her. Every cruel word he’d spoken during their relationship had been a blow to her ego, to her self-esteem. She still didn’t feel worthy at times. 

  
But then she shook her head. “Nothing,” she said. “You’ve done more than enough. I think that what just happened… It’ll sit with Julri for a long time to come.” And just saying the words aloud, thinking back to Julri’s reaction when Tora showed up… I was enough to make her stop shaking. She blinked back her tears, and felt like herself again. 

  
She reached around Tora and grabbed a package of hamburger buns from the shelf. “Let’s make burgers tonight. They’re really simple to make.”

  
Tora nodded. He briefly touched her hand, as if checking to make sure that she was actually alright, and not just putting on a brave face. She nodded at him once, to reassure him that she was fine. 

  
As they continued along to grab some other ingredients, Poppy reached out and grabbed his hand. Tora briefly paused and glanced down at their clasped hands before he laced his fingers through hers. 

  
Sometimes, she was one-hundred percent certain that she wanted to fall off that precipice. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this, please leave kudos and a review!


End file.
